


The Colonel's Wife - A William and Elizabeth story.

by AmethystStarr



Series: Col. William Tavington [1]
Category: The Patriot, jason isaacs - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:06:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28682280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmethystStarr/pseuds/AmethystStarr
Summary: What if Tavington had a wife? And what if that wife had connections to The Ghost? Would our story end any differently??
Relationships: William Tavington/Original Female Character
Series: Col. William Tavington [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102316
Kudos: 3





	The Colonel's Wife - A William and Elizabeth story.

She heard his voice before she saw his face,  
“Who carried this?” he bellowed across the yard. Elizabeth stepped out of the house, wiping her hands on a cloth. She’d been helping her brother-in-law care for the wounded soldiers, well she’d only been caring for the British soldiers. She had no wish to taint herself with rebel blood. Elizabeth’s felt her husband’s eyes burning into her. She saw him set his mouth, his blue, blue eyes narrow, and his jaw set.  
He knew she had relatives in the area. It was one reason she’d come with him, to talk her cousin’s family into becoming loyalists, therefore securing their safety. But at that moment, he was furious. The man of the house, obviously her cousin’s husband, had dared to speak against him. William clenched his fist and pointed to the ground beside his horse. Elizabeth took off her borrowed apron and moved to his side. She had brought nothing but herself, so there was nothing to fetch.  
“Thank you for the care of his Majesty’s soldiers-” Tavington started.  
“Elizabeth?” She heard her husband audibly suck in his breath,  
“You will address my wife by her title, Lady Elizabeth, or not at all,” he said. Elizabeth started to say something, but her husband silenced her with a look.  
“You never told me you were married,” the other man continued to speak to her.  
“I wrote to your wife, telling her so. It’s not my fault if she failed to inform you. My cousin is dead, and my marital status is of no concern to you. You have made your choice and the matter is closed. Goodbye,” Elizabeth nearly spat at him. Tavington smirked at his wife’s sharp words.  
“Bring the rider.” He ordered his men. Two redcoats grabbed the eldest of her cousin’s children and his father moved to stop them,  
“He’s a dispatch rider and that’s a marked case, you cannot hold him!”  
“We’re not going to hold him, we’re going to hang him,” Tavington smiled.  
“Eliza-” Tavington’s eyebrow and chin rose, “Lady Elizabeth, can you do nothing?” Instead of answering for her, Tavington waited to see what his wife would say. She turned to regard him from the side, her body faced towards her husband’s horse,  
“This is war, Sir. I can do nothing. The boy is a rebel and must be dealt with.”  
“But the rules of war dictat-” Tavington whipped out his pistol,  
“Would you like a lesson, sir, in the rules of war?!” he said, pointing the muzzle at him. “Or perhaps your children would,” he swept the pistol towards the children and Elizabeth grabbed his ankle,  
“William!” she hissed. He was going to snarl something back at her, but when he looked down at her, his hand stilled. He had never threatened children before, and the concern, fear, and shock in her eyes cut him. Their meaningful exchange was cut short as one of the other boys of the family took the distraction to try and free his brother. Before she could say anything, Tavington raised his pistol again and fired.  
“Stupid boy,” he hissed, then offered his wife his hand. She took it and deftly swung up to sit in front of him, his hand firmly on her waist. He gave orders, then turned his horse to ride back to camp. Neither Elizabeth nor William spoke as they returned to headquarters. But a soundly slammed door in William’s face spoke volumes. After giving reports, William left the manor house they were quartered in to clear his head in the garden below. Elizabeth fairly trembled with anger and shock as she paced the room, before collapsing in a chair by the window. He was just a boy, an innocent boy. But he was no longer innocent when he made the decision to go against the soldiers, William would argue. What if it had been our son, she would ask. Their son...how much she longed to give her husband a son, or simply a child. 

They had been married for five years. William’s father had all but ruined his family not a year before he had met Elizabeth in the middle of a crowded, overcast London street outside of the regimental officer’s house. He had been taken by her beauty, gentle grace, and delightful embarrassment when she had plunged headlong into him trying to keep up with her friends. She had bowled him completely over, landing atop him in front of a group of his fellow officers. His eyes and crooked smile had been her first sight, the easy way she smiled as her long lashes swept her cheeks had been his.  
“Tavington,” he had said when he had gingerly righted them both. She had curtsied deeply,  
“Selton,” she’d replied. Then her friends had called her, and she’d rushed off to catch up with them, glancing back with a blushing smile. Later that evening, a message had arrived at the officer’s house requesting Tavington’s presence at a small reception at Selton Place the following night. He’d smiled, and pressed the lavender rose that had accompanied the note to his lips. The following night, she’d worn a delicate lavender gown to offset her deep auburn, almost ruby curls. Neither left the other’s side the entire night and they had remained late into the night talking of art, and music, and literature under her uncle’s ever-watchful eye.  
William plucked the lavender rose from the bush and inhaled its gentle scent. The rose would always embody Elizabeth for him, from its delicate colour, to its soft petals, everything about it reminded him of the gorgeous woman he’d risked everything to call his wife. She had been the one to propose to him. They’d not even shared a kiss yet, but he knew he would do anything to call her his own. That night, she’d come to the officer’s barracks and thrown stones at his window. When he’d come down she’d asked him to marry her. Quickly, she’d told him if he didn’t marry her that night, he’d never be able to see her again, as the very next day she was being forced by her aunt-on her mother’s side-to marry a wretched older man. She had told him her uncle-her father’s brother-was waiting for them in a carriage and had arranged a priest to marry them under cover of darkness to save her life. William had known he loved her, but this made him sure. They married that night, and by the morning, her uncle had arranged for them to move into his home, Selton Place. He had just been a young Lieutenant then but had pushed hard to gain rank and favor so that she was provided with the life she was accustomed to. When he’d been assigned to quell the rebellion in the colonies under Cornwallis, she had insisted she go with him. After all, Cornwallis was a relation on her mother’s side, and her father’s brother had daughters who lived in the colonies. Now, as he had discovered this afternoon, she only had one cousin and Cornwallis as her only family. Just as he had made up his mind to go back inside, he opened his eyes from his ruminations, expecting to see her smiling down at him. But the window was empty.

**Author's Note:**

> I love seeing your comments and thoughts, so please leave them! Tell me your favorite parts and things You like to see happen!!


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